


Agents of SHIELD: The Black Mist

by kamenrangerxvi01



Series: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. "Relaunch"/Earth-199999α [9]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F, F/M, False Memories, Gen, Other, Psychological Horror, altered history
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-30
Updated: 2018-12-30
Packaged: 2019-09-29 03:00:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 11,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17195249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kamenrangerxvi01/pseuds/kamenrangerxvi01
Summary: An Alternate SHIELD story:Agent Coulson has seen a lot in SHIELD. but can anything prepare him and his team for when a strange young woman comes to them, saying she's being stalked by literal darkness?A name from nowhere.A memory that shouldn’t be.A shadow of a past that was and wasn’t.A dawning of something more.(EDIT: OK, I lied, this is actually very important to the overall storyline, red BEFORE Rise of the Iron Rider)





	1. Chapter 1

“So she’s saying a black cloud is following her at night?” Agent Phil Coulson asked, perplexed. “I signed up for SHIELD, not the Ghostbusters…”

“That’s what the girl is saying” Agent Melinda May replied. “Fitz-Simmons examined her and found nothing physically wrong with her. Miracle in and of itself. Coulson, do you think there’s anything to what she’s saying?”

“Well, it wouldn’t be the strangest thing we’ve ever seen.”

The pair entered The Bus’s interrogation room and found the young woman sitting on the cot. She had short red hair, cut to almost a buzz, a nose ring and big, almost coke bottle glasses. Coulson walked over and introduced himself.

“Hi, I’m Phil.”

She just stared up at him, trembling, almost unable to move.

“Can I sit down?” he asked.

He pulled the chair over and sat next to her.

“Can you tell me your name?”

“Cory.” The girl muttered. “Cory Sutter. Go ahead, make fun of my name. Everyone does.”

“Hi Cory. This is my friend Melinda.” May just stood there, arms crossed, her permanent scowl etched on her face.

“We’re gonna be looking into what you told the others. This cloud that’s been following you.”

“It’s not a cloud.” She said “It’s more like a fog, or a mist. A black mist”

“How long have you been seeing it?”

“About three months, I think. I don’t know. I can barely sleep. I need the lights on. It hates light.”

“Why do you think it’s following you?”

“It wants me. I don’t know why, but when I see it, it’s almost reaching out to me. Trying to grab my hand. I think it wants to kill me…”

At that moment, the air conditioning in the compartment switched on. The hiss of air scared her and she rolled up into a ball and started crying.

“It’s coming! It’s coming!”

“Cory” Coulson said “Cory, it’s 2:30 in the afternoon. You said it only comes out at night.”

“No, it comes in the dark. It’s too dark in here. It’s coming.”

“Let’s get her outside” Coulson said

May opened the door and Coulson led the poor, frightened girl out to the rear of the plane, giving her some space to breath.

She sat down on the ramp and took deep breaths.

“You OK?” Coulson asked.

The girl nodded slightly.

 “You catch your breath, I’ll be right back.”

“Sir, is everything alright?” Simmons asked stepping out of the lab and seeing Cory on the floor

“Yeah, I think she just had a panic attack.”

“Well, I’m not surprised. She’s barely been sleeping. Aside from the fact she says she keeps the lights on at night, she says she keeps having the same dream.”

“how often?”

“Every time she falls asleep, constantly. She’s afraid of it. She’s afraid of sleeping,”

“Well, that’s not the least bit unsettling. Did she say what it was?”

Simmons just shook her head.

Coulson walked back out to Cory.

“Simmons mentioned you told her about a dream you keep having, do you mind telling me what it is?”

She nodded. “I see this darkness. It looks like the mist, but different in a way. It’s all around me. And floating there is a bright point of light, almost like a star. And I hear a voice. It says the same thing every time. I wrote it down.” She said, pulling a piece of paper out of her pocket.

“ _Find the lock. The lock is the key. The key is the life. The life is the truth.”_

“Well, that’s wonderfully cryptic.” Coulson said, handing her the note back “Have you asked your parents about this? Maybe it’s something repressed from childhood?”

Cory shook her head. “They want nothing to do with me. Tossed me on the street when I turned 18 and told me never to come back. Can I go home now? Please?

 “Sure. I’ll have Fitz and Simmons drive you home.” He helped her up and into the SUV on the ramp.

Coulson went into the lab. He treaded carefully to avoid stepping on the strip of duct tape that ran down the middle, dividing the room in two.

“I want you two to drive her home. Can you guys do that without bickering?”

“Well, we can try Sir.” Fitz said, glaring at his former friend.

“Are you ever going to approve one of our transfers?” She asked

“Look, I know you two want to be as far away from each other as possible, but right now, I need you both to focus. Something is scaring this poor girl out of her mind and I want to know what. Besides, I can’t remove one of you without replacing you and I can’t do that without the OK from HQ. I’m still waiting on a replacement for Ward and he’s been dead for ages. So, can you two do me a favor and just make sure she gets home OK?”

The pair nodded and went for the car.

“Simmons” Fitz said “You’re better of keeping an eye on her. I’ll drive. Is that going to be an issue?”

“No” She answered shrewdly “Because that means I don’t have to sit next to you.”

 

“Are you hungry, Cory?” Simmons asked as they left the airport property.

“No, I’m fine.”

“So… Do you have a boyfriend?” Simmons asked, trying to make small talk, but Cory just sat their quietly. “A Girlfriend? Pets?”

“Simmons, stop annoying her.” Fitz said from the driver’s seat.

“I’m not annoying her, I’m trying to get her to talk so maybe she’ll feel better. Oh, right, you don’t care about people’s feelings…”

“Hey, I worked my ass off for over a year trying to get you back and the first words out of your mouth is ‘Send me back.’ And you won’t tell me why.”

“STOP IT!” Cory screamed.

“Sorry.” The two said.

“Stop talking and just take me home…”

The rest of the ride, they just sat in silence, until they arrived at Cory’s apartment. She led them inside and the two looked around. There was nothing out of the ordinary, except for the fact the place felt far larger than it needed to be for just one person, and every single light was on.

“Try to get some sleep.”Simmons told her as they went to leave.

“Good night” Fitz said, “We’ll be in touch, Miss Sutter.”


	2. Chapter 2

Next day.

“Order up table 24” The chef called.

Cory ran over and nearly crashed into Sally, the only member of the wait staff she’d call a friend.

“You OK Cor?” She asked in her thick southern accent. Everything about Sally said “southern belle.” How she walked, how she talked. She’d moved to the city to study acting and worked at the restaurant to make ends meet.

“Yeah… Yeah, I’m fine.” Cory said.

“You sure? Ya’ll look like you’re gonna fall asleep standing up.”

“I’ll be OK…”

She delivered the food and was noted of a new party being seated in her section.

“Good evening, my name is Cory and I’ll be your server….” She said on almost automatic before looking up at the pair

“Hello again, Cory.” A familiar voice said.

“Agent Coulson? Agent May?”

“We figured we’d check up on you and we’ve heard great things about this place and we’re kinda hungry. Why not kill two birds with one stone.” He said with a smile.

“Thanks AC.”

“What?” Coulson asked

“Sorry. Nerves and all that.” She said, flustered.

She took the two agents orders and went back to working her section.

“What did she call you?” May asked.

“So far we have a young woman with strange dreams, a black mist supposedly following her, an apartment far too large for her and her pay check and acting like she knows me. Something is fishy here.”

 

The two agents enjoyed their meal and left Cory with a generous tip before leaving along with leaving Cory a phone number to get in touch with them. As they walked out the door, they didn’t notice the alleyway next to the restaurant. They didn’t see how not a single light shone through it. And they didn’t hear the quiet whisper echo through the darkness, faint beyond any human ears’ ability to hear.

“ _Soon…Mine… All mine… died… all died… again again again…_ ”

 

“See you guys tomorrow.” Cory said to her co-workers as she walked towards the bus stop.

“Hey Cory, wait a second.” Sally called for her. “I’m going over to a friend’s house tonight, want to come?”

“Naw, sorry. I’m just tired. Haven’t been sleeping much.”

“That black cloud dream still bothering you?”

“The mist isn’t a dream. The dream is something else.” Cory said, sitting down at the bus stop.

“Why don’t you take the subway anymore? It’s so much quicker. You have to change buses and walk. You live in Williamsburg. It’s only two stops on the L now that it’s back up and running.”

“Because it’s underground. Which means darkness, which is where that thing lives.”

 “Don’t be silly. I’ll go with you. Come on” She said, grabbing her by the arm and dragging her into the train station on the corner.

 

“See, it’s not so bad.” Sally told Cory. “There are other people here. If this thing was real, we’d have witness. No one but you has seen it.”

  The platform wasn’t as crowded since a train had just left, but another one was arriving anyway.

It pulled in and the doors opened.

“ _This is a Brooklyn-bound L train. The next stop is Bedford Avenue.”_

“Come on, on you go.” Sally said, practically pushing Cory onto the train.

“I’m going. I’m going.” She protested.

It wasn’t until the doors closed that they realize the car was empty.

“Well, we’re only going two stops.”

 

The train departed and started the long trip through the tunnel under the East River.

Cory sat down and grabbed on to the pole next to her with a vice grip. The train was about half way through the tunnel when a loud hiss echoed and the train came to a sudden, screeching halt.

“It’s here! It’s HERE!” Cory screamed.

“Something might have gone wrong…”

And with that, the lights in the train all cut out at once.

“OH GOD! OH GOD! OH GOD!” Cory repeated over and over.

Sally pulled her phone out of her purse and switched on the light.

“Oh will you calm down.” She yelled at her panicking friend.

But Cory wouldn’t calm down. She could feel it. The tingle on her skin. The cold feeling down her spin. She started to cry. She knew.

“Cory… take a deep breath…”

She gripped the pole tight and started to inhale slowly. She could hear something. Someone. A quiet whisper in her ears.

“No! Please! Stop! Leave me alone! Leave me alone!”

“Oh will you stop it!” Sally yelled “I swear I’m…”

She looked towards the far end of the empty car. She saw nothing. Literally nothing. Just a wall of black darkness churning before her.

The Mist.

It was real, and it had found them.

“Stay back!” Sally stuttered at it. She held up her phone to shine the light at it. Cory uncovered her eyes long enough so they both could see what appeared to be a figure standing in the mist before Sally’s phone also blinked out.

The two women screamed.

It the darkness, they could still make out the movements of the mist.  Almost like an octopus, it’s tendrals reached out for them, snaking across the floor. Then, almost as sudden as this had all started, the lights switched back on, causing the mist to disappear.

“You were right, Cory.” Sally said, clearly terrified “You were right. I’m sorry.”

It was about half an hour before the train was able to move to the next stop. Sally insisted on getting off, and immediately ran after a passing black cab to take her back to Manhattan, leaving Cory alone on the sidewalk. She started to walk home, shaking, when she pasted an ambulance, where the train operator was muttering about a “man on the tracks who wasn’t there” 

“Cory!” She turned and was met by Fitz and Simmons, waiting with the car.

“Oh God you guys have no idea how I am so glad to see you.” She told them, practically in tears “I saw it. It attacked me!”


	3. Chapter 3

“So let me see if I understand this right. You two, the best scientists SHIELD has ever had, actually think she’s being followed around… by a ghost…” Coulson said “An actual, honest to God, not kidding, not a metaphor, not a simplification, _ghost_ …”

“Well it would explain almost everything.” Fitz said “The train driver said he saw a person on the tracks.

“And Cory said they saw a figure in the mist.” Simmons added.

“This particular subway line is automatic,” Fitz continued “which allows them to run the trains much closer together.  So close, in fact, there is no way a person could get on the tracks between the trains in that section, between the two ventilation shafts under the river. The train in front would have run him over first.

“Why would a ghost chase Cory?”

“Maybe the ghost has a crush on her?” Simmons said shrugging. “We need to do some more research.”

“Where’s Cory now?”

“Upstairs, asleep in a spare bunk.” Fitz said

“Poor girl, she can’t get any rest.” Simmons added with a sigh “She’s probably having the dream right now.”

“No. I wasn’t” Cory said, standing in the doorway

“You shouldn’t be up!” Simmons scolded her “I thought you were asleep.”

“I was… but.. I didn’t have the dream. I had a different one.”

“So you’re back to normal dreaming?” Coulson asked

“No… It was… What I saw in the dream was the same, but what the voice was saying was different.” She closed her eyes and tried to remember ‘A friendly face hides that which is stolen. That which is stolen hides the lock. Find the lock. The lock is the key.”

“Now I want to find this guy just so I can ask him what’s with all the riddles.” Coulson said.

Cory went back to bed, at this point actually wanting to fall asleep out of sheer exhaustion.

The two brits burned the midnight oil, searching through their records for anything similar, only to come up with nothing. It was only when they started going through Cory’s personal history did things get interesting.

“You were right Fitz” Simmons said “There is no way she could afford that apartment on her own, and there’s no record of any roommates. For that matter, there’s barley any documentation on her at all. It’s almost like she showed up out of nowhere. No record on where she came from.”

“Could she be a ghost two? A ghost with amnesia?” Fitz asked

“That is both the most ridiculously thing I’ve ever heard” Simmons started “And quite possibly the closest thing we have to an answer.”

“Well she had to come from somewhere…”

A few hours later, Coulson came back in with coffee for the two.

“Find anything?”

“No. we just went through the information for the subway’s power system, try to see what caused the train to lose power.”

“Did someone shut it off?”

“That’s the thing” Fitz said “The Transit Authority said they saw no anomalies. The third rail was live the entire time the train was stopped.”

“Our best guess” Simmons continued “Is that this… Mist entity somehow drained the power.”

“He could stop a 480-foot train going forty miles an hour.” Fitz said, “This guy is not playing around.”

 

As Fitz and Simmons had been up all night, May was coaxed into driving Cory home to change for work.

She let the girl out and began to head back to the airport, when she stopped at a traffic light under a highway overpass. She looked up into her rearview mirror for a split second, she could have sworn she saw a hooded figure sitting in the backseat. She turned around, nothing.

 

“order up. Table 23”

Cory ran over and this time, did crash into Sally.

“Oh… oh my God, Sally I am so… so… sorry.”

“It’s alright Cor,” the other girl said, “This blouse was on its last legs anyway.”

“Let me clean it, you can’t wear nothing.”

“I think if I did, my tips might go up.”

They went back into the bathroom, Sally took off her shirt and Cory began to rinse the sauces off it.

She noticed Sally had a gold ring on a chain around her neck.

“You never said you were married.”

“I’m not, this belonged to my mother.” Sally said, with a sad look.

“Oh… I’m sorry. If it makes you feel any better, I was disowned.”

“Why, got pregnant? Kissed a girl?”

“No, I... They had expectations of me. Expectations I couldn’t meet.”

“Some people, I swear…”

 

The rest of the day went by uneventful, but for some reason, Cory could not take her mind off that ring. Maybe it was because she saw how much Sally and her were alike. Maybe because it made or think of wanting more out of her life, about finding someone. Or maybe it was just her mind wanting something to focus on that wasn’t scaring the ever-loving crap out of her.


	4. Chapter 4

Coulson was sitting at his desk reading when the door to his office/cabin nearly flew off the hinges as Fitz and Simmons came running in.

“Sir… We’re found her.”

“Who, what?” Coulson asked

“Cory, we found Cory.”

“May took her home… what’s going on…”

“Cory A. Sutter, Born, September 12, 1989.” Jemma said “Died March 31, 1996”

“So she is a ghost?” Coulson asked

“If ghosts could change ethnicity…” Fitz said “The Cory Sutter who died was African-American. Killed in a bus crash.”

“Sir… she’s a con-artist.” Jemma said

“You’re sure about that.”

“We’ve tracked her back at least ten years on her own.” Jemma said “She switches up identities every few months, runs up debt and then disappears.”

“So do we have any idea what her REAL name is?”

The two looked down at the floor. Coulson could tell they knew and were not excited to tell her

Fitz said. “Her real name is…”

“Gabrielle Wewer” “Jemma finished

“Wewer… as in…”

“Francis Wewer…”

“Oh my God…” Coulson said, standing “has she…”

“Not to our knowledge, no.” Fitz said “But we have to triple check everything.”

"might want to get Daisy to..." Coulson began to say. 

"Who?" Fitz asked.

" I don't know...." Coulson said "I don't even know why I said that..."

"We should check out the system logs, make sure nothing was acesses while she was on the plane." Fitz said as he turned to leave

“May is gonna flip when she gets back." Coulson told them "I don’t even want to explain to Fury how we had the daughter one of the most wanted men in the world on our plane…”

 

“You need to relax.” Sally said, pulling Cory by her arm.

“What I need to get is home before it gets dark,”

“You’re over reacting.” Sally told her “You need to live a little.”

Sally pushed her friend into the back of the cab and gave the driver an address down on Delancey.

“Why do you care so much?” Cory asked.

“Maybe I’m just a sucker for hard luck cases? Or maybe it’s just the right thing?”

 

Jemma was flipping through the data she had on the girl she thought she new as Cory Sutter when she got a hit in a database.

“Missing persons? Well, that would be obvious… Probibly an ex she dumped…” She opened the file and began to read, only for her heart to stop for a quick second.

“My god…”

She quickly did a search to locate Cory’s phone, finding it on the Lower East side. She then grabbed a few things and ran out of the plane.

 

“Wewer… You’re kidding.” May said, rubbing her forehead.

 

“My father, he was… he’s an asshole.” Cory told Sally “He sent me to this crazy ass school.”

 

“It’s unfortunately the truth.” Coulson said.

 

“What did your dad do?” Sally asked

 

“Fury is going to kill us” May said “We were this close. We could have used her to get to him.”

 

“He… He…” Corry said “I can’t say it. The things I saw… the things I DID…”

 

“We might still have a chance.” Fitz said “She doesn’t know we’re on to her”

 

“They didn’t disown me and make me leave.  They did it because I ran away. I’ve been hiding ever since…”

 

“We should call for backup…” May said

 

“So this thing with the mist?” Sally asked

 

“We don’t have the time. We need to leave now. Get Fitz and Simmons in the truck.”

 

“I… Think he sent it. To kill me…”

 

“Should we at least call this in first?” May asked

 

“How, why?”

 

“I guess, tell them, we’re moving on an enemy asset.”

 

“Because…” Cory said as she rolled up the sevel on her arm, revealing a mark, a branding, she’d covered over with special makeup around the SHIELD agents “It’s what people like him do…”

 

She looked down at her arm and whispered, “...Hail Hydra...”


	5. Chapter 5

Cory and Sally stumbled out of the bar, slightly tipsy.

“You are a really complex person Cory, or whatever your name is.”

“It’s Gabby, actually.”

“Well, I’m still gonna call you Cory.”

“You can call me whatever you want.”

“oh… Can I call you back to my place?” Sally said.

“Maybe…”

The two leaned towards each other, sharing a kiss on the sidewalk. 

Sally grabbed Cory's hand and pulled her down the street towards her apartment a few blocks away. They were only just in the door of the tiny space when Cory launched herself at Sally.

"someone looks like she's ready for a hot time" Sally said as the two took their clothes off. They spent hours making love on Sally's bed, every which way the could thing. And never once noticing there was no light coming in from the windows...

It was getting close to dawn when the two women came off their romantic highs and Sally walked Cory back to the subway station down at Delancey & Essex.

"I hope this doesn't make things awkward between us at work." Cory said.

"only as awkward as we make it..." Sally told her "I... really enjoyed that." 

"Me two..." Cory said "Can I get one more for the road?"

The two leaned into each other, sharing a passionate kiss goodnight before they heard a voice behind them.

“Gabrielle Wewer…” Cory heard someone say to her. She and Sally turned to find Simmons standing there.

“Simmons? What are you doing here?”

“I know who you really are.” The Brit stammered.

“Who’s this? Ex-girlfriend?” Sally asked “she’s hot. Maybe you should invite her next time...”

“they’re coming for you.” Simmons continued “They know about your father, but I found something, the truth.”

“Simmons” Cory began “I know what this looks like, but, believe me, I never wanted that life. That’s why I left. That’s why I ran.”

Cory saw the black SVU the SHIELD team had on their bus racing towards them. She turned to run.

 

And then, it happened.

Cory tripped.

 

She reached up to catch herself and ended up grabbing the ring on the chain around Sally’s neck. She felt a shock go through her body. He mind began to fill with images. Pain, suffering… It snapped her out of her daze.

Sally pushed her away, snapping the chain, leaving the ring in Cory’s hands.

“What was all that?” “Cory asked, holding the ring in her palm

“What was what?” Sally asked.

“I saw things. I saw people attacking me. I saw myself on a hospital bed in agony. I think I was dying. It was like a whole other… life.”

Then it hit her like a ton of bricks. "Life, lock... wedlock..." she said as she looked down at the ring. She felt a compulsion."

To put it on.

"wait, stop." Sally said quickly. 

“Gabrielle Wewer” Coulson yelled as he climbed out of the van. “Put your hands in the air and come quietly.”

“Couslon, wait, I…”

She realized something was wrong.

“Coulson, I surrender.” Cory said, standing and doing as she was told.

“Sir, wait, there is something…” Simmons began to say

Coulson began to step forward to take Cory into custody, ignoring Simmons.

“Miss, you’re going to have to come with us as well” he said to Sally

“sorry, officer, but that’s not happening.”

“I’m not a cop” Coulson said “and I wasn’t asking.”

“Yeah, that’s not happening…” She said as she gave him a push than sent him flying across the sidewalk.

“Sally? What the hell was that?”

“I’m sorry Cory.” Sally told her, her southern accent dropping “I really am. I actually came to like you as a person, then I fell in love with you.  I was even thinking of taking you along as my pet once all was said and done. But, I’m going to have to kill you now.” Sally pulled what looked like a gun out of her purse.

“That doesn’t look like Hydra…”

“Cause it isn’t.” Sally said as she pulled the trigger, tears flowing out her eyes.

"Goodbye my love."


	6. Chapter 6

Cory closed her eyes and waited for the end. She squeezed tight on the ring in her palm. But nothing happened. She opened her eyes again to find The Mist had returned. But it just sort of floated there, between the two.

The Shield agents were in shock. Something like this made no sense to them, no matter how much they’d tried to understand it. The mist moved like it was alive.

 “ _Gadtlack_ …” Sally said with panic in her voice. Cory had never heard that word before. Sally put her hands to her troat and had a light panic attack but then, they hear something else. Whispering. It sounded like it was all around her. It sounded like what she’d heard in her dreams and on the train.

Sally’s eyes went wide in shock.

“YOU!” Sally hissed with unbridled anger, yet still frightened. “ How.. No... You can’t be… You can’t be…”

The rage in her voice scared Cory even more. Somehow, she could hear what the mist was saying.

More whispering followed, now louder.

“You think you can stop me? You’re dead. And once she’s gone, you’re never going to find a way back. Your anchor will be gone.”

Sally raised her weapon and pulled the trigger.

Nothing happened. She moved to the other side and tried to fire again, only the gun still didn’t fire.

“Damn it, this is your doing!” She screamed “Well then, plan B it is.”

Cory at this point picked herself up and started running down the street, with the SHIELD agents following.

Sally threw the weapon on the ground and ran towards Cory. She lept over the mist like nothing and in a few bounds, caught up to Cory and grabbed her by the neck, choking her. The Mist began to move, to surround Cory. Where it touched Sally, it caused a painful sensation that made the young woman backed away sceaming.

The Mist then enveloped Cory in its darkness. Cory cried out in terror. It finally had her. But something was… not as it should have been. Or at least not what she was expecting. Instead of deathly cold or intense pain, she felt a warmth around her, like a caring embrace. She looked up. Before her stood the figure. It was almost like a shadow, with a hood covering its head, it’s face invisible.

“You’re safe now.” It told her, its voice sounding like a far off echo “She won’t hurt you. I won’t let her… ”

It bent down and ran its hand over her face. Even at this close proximity, she saw and empty void where it’s face should be.

“I… remember you.” It said before standing. “I remember.”

It turned around and the darkness dispersed. The pre-dawn light returned, leaving the shadow without its surrounding mist. Suddenly, within it a light shone bright. Sally tried to charge at the mist but was forced to cover her eyes from just how bright it was.

“Let’s Dance” It told Sally. “Let’s _Ride_ …”

Cory and the others couldn’t make out much, but they could tell the figure was moving it’s arms in some fashion.

Suddenly, a voice, unlike any Cory had ever heard before, echoed loudly in the street.

“ _ARE YOU READY!?!_ ” It called out, with an almost electronic tone.

The shadow held it one arm across its chest, with its hand near its head and the other arm down by its waist and replied to the voice with a single, strange word,

_**“HENSHIN!”** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you know anything of Japanese... you know where this is going.


	7. Chapter 7

The arm near the waist made a movement and suddenly, a dome of greenish energy formed around the shadow and two smaller lights emerged from its torso.

It then held its arms out straight to its sides as the small lights moved to ether side  and then expanded to become two halves of a suit of armor. One half was silver, the other bright gold. The halves came crashing together on either side of the shadow, leaving only the outline of its head exposed, before armor began to form around it two, into a helmet. It had big, bug like eyes, each of whose color matched the other side of the body. On its waist was an octagonal device with a glowing ring in the center. Attached to the right side of the device was a small handle.

As if by sheer magic, the first beams of daybreak shone over the horizon behind it as the electronic voice called out again

“ _RIDER!_ _STRONGEST VICTORY! IRONDEFENDER_!”

“No! NO! NO! NO!” Sally screamed “You should be gone! You don’t exist! You CAN’T exist!”

“You’re right, and yet, here I am” the armored figure replied, its voice now pulling even harder at Cory’s mind “Didn’t anyone ever tell you about us ghosts and unfinished business. You’re still here, so that means I’m not done yet.”

The figure stretched and flexed “feels good being solid again”.

It then charges at Sally, taking a swing at her, but she leapt high in the air, well over Its head, landing on top of a light pole.

“Spry for someone your age” It said

“You really are a pest.” She screamed back at it “an insignificant little gnat!”

“I’m more like a cockroach.” It said “I’m a pain in the ass to kill.”

It reached for the lever on its waist and yanked it outwards and then down three times, before shoving it back into place.

“ _MODE CHANGE_!” the electronic voice called out.

The energy field returned, and the oversized belt buckle was releasing a small ball of light that grew into another half side of the suit, this one jet black. The helmet folded open and the golden left side of the armor slid off. The exposed part of the figure still looked like the shadow, but it had greater definition and a clearer outline. The golden half did the reverse of what the black section had done while the black half slammed into the place, but when the helmet reformed, the right eye was still gold and the left eye was now a bright red.

“ _RIDER!_ _LET’S GO! IRONMAGNUM!”_

The figure was now holding a gun which it held up and fired at Sally.

She held out her hands and the bullets simply stopped in midair

It quickly switched again, this time, a cobalt/sky blue armor half replaced the silver one on the right side, this one with a brown eye.

_“RIDER! LET’S GO! THUNDERMAGNUM!”_

It then pulled the level again, but further out than what was needed to change the suit and held it there.

“ _THUNDERMAGNUM! OVERCHARGE!_ ” the voice yelled as he pushed the level back in

It pulled the trigger on the gun and instead of a bullet, what only could be described as ball lightning formed around the muzzle before racing off at Sally. She dove out of the way and landed back on the ground.

She then moved her hands, and several of the nearby parked cars began flying towards it.

While watching this, Cory began to feel weird in several different ways. First and formost was a massive feeling of Déjà vu. The second was a tingling in her skin. It wasn’t the feeling she’d get when the she’d see the mist. It was a feeling like her skin was hardening, going up her body before disappearing.

“Cory…” Simmons said, coming over and unlocking the handcuffs “You need to know this. You’re adopted. Francis Wewer isn’t your real father. I found your parents. I know your name… It’s…” she began to saw before a she began to choke.

“I can’t let you do that, Agents Simmons” Sally said as the girl passed out

“JEMMA!” Fitz screamed and ran over to her, holding her unconscious form.

Before May could run over to check on her, the shadow tossed one of the cars it had climed out from under right at Sally. She caught it in mid air.

“Take off the belt.” Sally said, as she pointed her free hand at Cory, who began to choke herself “Take it off or she dies.”

 “Phil, I don’t think she’s human” May told said to Coulson as she helped him towards the fight.

"Did you just call me Phil? You never call me Phil…” he asked before he yelled in pain. His left arm felt like it was burning. He held it up, only for his entire lower arm to disapear

"WHAT THE HELL?" he yelled as he yanked his jacket and shirt off

Where his arm had been was suddenly a glowing mass of wires and circuits, growing and forming themselves into the shape of a hand. A skin like cover grew out and around the metal and wires, forming a mechanical appendage.

Coulson’s pain subsided as he looked over the scene around him.

“Why do I suddenly remember… someone chopping my arm off?”

“It’s because history is returning to how it should be.” The figure said.

“Who are you?” Coulson asked.

“Well, like this, you can call me ‘ _Kamen Rider Victory_.” It said. It then pulled on the control lever on the belt and left it in the middle position. The armor retracted itself, shrunk and reentered the belt, leaving just the shadow standing there, freaking the SHIELD team out slightly.

“Or, if you’d prefer an actual name…” it began as its shadow form began to dissolve.

The darkest around it beld off in the sunlight like it was swept away by the wind, leaving a young man standing there. His face was still obscured by the hood of his jacket until he pulled it off. He was tall, with light brown hair, a scar on his cheek… and strangest of all… his eyes were bright purple…

“…Scott Riley, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, not tied into the main story? 
> 
> I lied. 
> 
> Scott was the mist the whole time.


	8. Chapter 8

“I’m warning you.” Sally yelled. She walked closer to Cory, allowing the car to tumble on into a nearby parked bus. Sally put her arm around Cory’s neck, physically choking her again “Take one step closer and your wife will be joining you.”

The word ‘Wife’ caused everyone’s ears to perk up.

“I’ve never been married” Cory said through the chokehold “You’ve got the wrong girl.”

The man simply smiled “Joining me? I don’t think you fully understand what you’re messing with. I remember now. I remember they didn’t kill me. They couldn’t kill me. You CAN’T kill me. She can’t kill me. You’re physically unable to kill one of ‘your own’, no matter how much you might want to. So, instead, you did the only thing possible to get me out of the way. You ERASED ME by killing my grandfather in the past. But you didn’t do a very good job of it…”

He looked Cory right in the eyes… “Do you remember what I told you?”

Without thinking, Cory let go of Sally’s arms, reached into her pocket and put the ring on. Once she did that, it began to glow again. There was a massive flash and suddenly, pinpoints of light began to fall from the sky. Lights like those in her dream. The flash blinded Sally again.

The man held out his hand and the distracted Sally suddenly went flying, letting go of Cory. “Arrest her! She’s Siltavion! She’s an Alien!” he yelled at the SHIELD agents. “If you need more encouragement, she’s here to kill you all…”

He then ran over to Cory.

“Are you OK?” He asked her.

“Who are you?” She asked him “What are you?”

He smiled at her

“Like I said, my name’s Scott. And, weird as this might sound right now, I’m your husband.”

“A.. a guy like you wouldn’t look at a girl like me…” she said, pushing her glasses back onto her face. “Your eyes are purple… It’s kinda creepy.”

“If that’s how you feel, you got over it quickly. Why else would you have married me?”

“But I’m not married” she insisted “I’ve never even had a boyfriend”.

“Cory Sutter’, ‘Gabrielle Wewer’ or whatever you might thing you are, might not be married. But Daisy Johnson is.”

“Daisy… Johnson?”

“That’s your _real_ name. That’s who you really are.” Jemma said sitting up, having regained consciousness. “Your real parents were still looking for you. I think you real father is still alive. I got a DNA hit in a missing person’s database.

One of the golden pin pricks came down between the two, with Cory catching it in her hands.

“It looks like someone wants her mother back.”

She looked at the glowing golden gem in her hand. It felt warm. It felt like love. Unconditional love. The unconditional love a parent has for their child.

Suddenly a voice spoke inside her head. It spoke one word. “Toni…”

In her mind’s eye, an image appeared to her; a newborn baby, quietly sleeping.

“This is… our daughter?” she asked him.

“Her potentiality. And yours, it would seem” He told her “These lights are all people who were. Their lives, their stories, but the change in history got rid of them. Most of them became new people, like you, others, like me, were erased completely. There are others, I don’t know where they are… I don’t remember yet.”

Some of the lights flew down and entered the agents.

Jemma and Fitz looked at each other, and like someone flipping a light switch, the mistrust and anger disappeared. Without anyone noticing, wedding rings appeared on their fingers.

 

Another light entered May. Gone was the loneness. Gone was the pain. In its place was happiness, family, love. The others weren’t annoying pest she was stuck with, they were family. Like the children she never had…  

 

Cory then had another image flashed in her mind, the image from before of her in agony. The image was different. Scott was standing over her, holding her hand, saying words she couldn’t hear, but could tell they were encouragement “That wasn’t me dying, was it? That was me giving birth; having our baby…” she said to the man… to Scott.

At this point, the ring stopped glowing and Cory took it off. She finally gave it a good look and noticed something inscribed on the inside.

“Daisy & Scott - January 18, 2020”

She looked at Scott and noticed something.

He was still a ‘ghost’. One spot of him was still missing. A chunk of his ring finger.

A feeling entered her mind “This isn’t my ring, is it?”

She took his hand and slid the ring onto his finger to the spot where he was incomplete.

“I do” she said with a smile. The ring glowed for a split second again as it complete the restoration of it’s owner.

 

She began to glow like the pin pricks. Her hair grew out by itself and it’s color changed to the blonde with purple highlights she’d been using. As her body morphed and adjusted, her glasses disappeared and her worn out clothes became her black and purple jumpsuit.

When the glow faded, Cory Sutter was gone.

In her place was Daisy Johnson. Wife, mother, Agent of SHIELD and known to the world as the Inhuman hero “Quake”. The glowing light rose into the sky and flew off.

“Where’s she going?” She asked.

“My parents house, probably.” Scott answered ‘that’s where she was when this all started.”

 

“YOU RUINED EVERYTHING” Sally screamed at Scott as the world shifted around them. They were no longer at the foot of the Williamsburg bridge. They suddenly found themselves on the great lawn of Central Park.

“I’m told I have a tendency to do that.” He said.

“I’m gonna kill her if it’s the last thing I do.” She shoved off the ground and bolted past the other agents.

Everything happened in an instant. 

Sally looked down.

A familiar looking blade was imbedded in her chest.

She looked up. Instead of Scott, stood the Rider again. This time in a dark green and white armor.

_“RIDER! STORM VICTORY! HURRICANECALIBUR!”_

“right back where we were when all this started.” Scott said through his helmet “How perfect… It’s like all that bullshit never even happened.”

Scott gripped Sally by the shoulder.

“Daisy, get that thing out of her hand.”

Without looking, Daisy yanked and backed away.

Scott withdrew the blade and the woman collapsed in a heap on the ground. Scott tapped the wrist of his armor, causing the helmet to retract.

 

 “No!Du Shal Vo! NO!” Sally sobbed as her body began to change.

“Mysiri?” Daisy asked in shock.

“No, meet Sullia. Mysiri… she was projected too far back in time, even for her kind. She’s gone.”

“So where did?”

“She’s a clone. A clone of a clone.” He said, looking down at her “Does that make you my cousin or still my aunt, I never figured that out.”

“Sautus oh ven kai.”

“Yeah no, I’m not going near that.” He said

“You have no idea what you started.” Sullia said before falling down, dead.

The group caught their breaths, Daisy looking at the golden crystal cube in her hand, when she noticed movement in the corner of her eye.

“SCOTT!” Daisy yelled as she jumped in front of him.

There was another Sullia standing there, holding a small item that she held up, causing it to emit a beam. The blast hit Daisy square in the chest. Scott grabbed on to her and held her. The pin pricks of light vanished.

“What was that?” She asked, feeling strange

He began to cry.

“I guess we’re both going to know what it’s like to not exist.” She told him, realizing. "Say you'll remember me..." She asked

He nodded

"I love you..."

Scott was beside himself as the world suddenly went white.


	9. Chapter 9

Phil was running. Every day was running. Every day was running or else they’d find him and he knew full well being turned into one of those suited freaks was not in the cards if they caught him.

 

He ducked back into an old semi-trailer, and yanked out his cobbled together radio

“mayday” he called into it “They’re on to us. Anyone copy?”

“any luck?” Fitz asked.

Phil just shook his head.

“Vas…” Fitz said

“What have I told you a million times.” Phil quietly told the younger man off.

“Sorry, it’s habit.”

“Well break it. I don’t want to hear one of their words out of anyone.” He looked at the other two in the trailer “how is she?” he asked Simmons.

“I don’t know if there’s much more I can do but make her comfortable.” She said.

He looked over May, the damage to her body was severe. Her only hope for treatment would be with their enemy.

“Phil?” May asked

“I’m here…” he said, taking her hand.

“Find him… find Rogers…”

“We’re gonna find him, together.”

“We’re clear” Fitz said

“Let’s get a move on, we’re not leaving her here.” Phil said

 

They carried May out and soon found a caravan of traders passing through the ruins of the city.

“Please, my friend is dying, we need help.”

“Sorry, friend,” the one trader said, “we don’t have much for the Grey.”

“Take whatever I have, I’ll even let you have her.” He said, pointing to Simmons.

“Excuse me?”

“If May dies, your use to me is over.”

“Don’t talk to her like that.” Fitz said

“Can it, traitors don’t get a vote.”

They heard a low hum and turned to see one of the enemy ships approaching them.

Hatches on the bottom opened and several black suits were dropped, surrounding them.

“Surrender.” One of them yelled

“That’ll be the day.” May yelled, pulling out a cobbled together pistol.

One of the men aimed at them and fired, striking May in the chest.

“NO!” Coulson yelled

“Find him…” May said “Find him.”

 

The craft swung around and landed in front of them. A hatch opened on the side and more soldiers marched out

 

One of the troops stood up next to the door as a figure strode out. He stood there, in gleaming armor, fit for his regal status.

 

“I present his royal highness, All hail Prince Trivlen of the Siltavion Empire!”


	10. Chapter 10

“What is all this?” Trivlen asked as he surveyed the scene.

“Rebel salves, your highness” One of the solders said. “Nothing to be too concerned about.”

“Phil Coulson, a former janitor at one the refining plants;” his aide began to read off “Melinda May, escaped processing worker; Leo Fitz, formerly of the Special Projects branch and Jemma Simmons, an escaped pleasure slave. I rather enjoyed”

“Enough, Sullia” he said “I don’t care about what you want or enjoy.”

“I beg your pardon, my prince.”

“My Lord, please” The leader of the caravan spoke up “I am a simple trader, I have nothing to do with anyone. I don’t know these people.”

“Shoot him” Trivlen said.

One of the black suits raised his gun and shot the man through the chest, leaving him in a heap.

“I don’t take demands from anyone.”

Trivlen stepped forward and looked down at Coulson.

“quite the commotion you caused… Didn’t think someone like you had it in them.”

“Fuck you.” Coulson said.

“But, sad to say, this was all for nothing” He said aloud “You knew what was going to happen if you didn’t listen. You knew not to get me angry and you ignored me. Now you’re alone and completely at my mercy.”

“Do not concern yourself with them, my prince.” Sullia said “We have more important things to do. Soon, we will finally be able to see our homeworld.”

“You monster!” Coulson yelled, cradling May’s dying body. “You people got what you wanted! Why?”

Trivlen lifted his hand and two aids took his cloak of his shoulders.

“This could have all been prevented. All you had to do was do as you were told and this could have gone so much easier for all of us. Espeicaly this guy.” Trivlen said, stepping over the corpse of the man he’d ordered shot “But he’s meaningless in the grand scheme of things.”

“Wait” Fitz said “I’m a spy, I’ve always been loyal to you…”

“shut up.” Trivlen said “I know you’re lying, so save it.”

Trivlen looked up at the ruins of the city

“Well, I have no choice now,” He said, shaking his head “I have to kill you.”

Trivlen drew his sword from its scabbard.

“YOU BASTARD!” Coulson yelled.

“My Prince,” Sullia said “We should go now. Let the soldiers handle them, don’t soil your blade with their blood.” She began to walk past him to return to their ship when he reached out and grabbed her arm.

“I wasn’t really talking to _them_ …” he said without turning

 Trivlen’s other hand swung, holding his sword to Sullia’s throat.

“Prince Trivlen…” one of the aids started to speak.

 “Men, seize her.” He said.

The soldiers did their duty and grabbed on to Sullia.

“ Triv… Please, what’s gotten in to you? Trivlen? Cousin?”

“THAT… IS… NOT… MY… NAME!!!” He screamed.


	11. Chapter 11

He reached out and grabbed her by the throat.

“Bring… them… back…” He said, the anger in his words clear as day “Bring… HER… back to me. NOW!”

“Trivlen… Please…”

“If you’re expecting me to answer you, call me by MY NAME!”

She held her mouth closed.

“Say it”

She shook her head.

“SAY IT!” he yelled again, squeezing harder “What’s my name?”

“SCOTT!” a voice cried out. “STOP!”

“Daisy?”

“Scott… Stop.” Trlvn… Scott turned and looked to one side.

Daisy was standing there. She had a white glow and was only partly visible.

“Daisy…”

“Scott, this isn’t like you.” She said “Don’t be a monster. Be the guy I fell in love with.”

“You remember?” Sullia asked, scared. As if by simple will, the regal armor came off like a mist, leaving Scott standing there once more in his normal clothes.

“You already tried to erase me once, you should have considered your tampering wasn’t going to work on me again.” He said “You little cube friends don’t always play ball the way you want them to. Give it to me.”

Sullia began to run.

“Fellas” Scott said to the black suits. They proceed to run after her, tackling her to the ground.

“The cube, please?” Scott said, walking over and standing above her. “I’m not going to ask nicely again.”

“ _Chustu Vaks Cor uta vi_.” She said, while spitting in his face.

“Must we resort of such language?” Scott said before giving an order to his men “Search her, gold cube shaped item, about the size of tennis ball.”

The black suits felt around before pulling the cube out of a pocket in her uniform.

“Thank you…” Scott said as the men suddenly disappeared.

Scott walked over to the glowing white mist that contained Daisy.

“You alright?” He asked her

“Could be better…” She said “You?”

‘I’ll feel better when this is over…”

“Scott…” She began “I’m sorry.”

“Daisy… You didn’t know.”

“Not that… I…” she began to say, looking down at her feet.

“I know.” He said, “And I forgive you.”

He held out the cube, letting her touch it. The world went white once more.

 

They were standing in the park once again. Scott and Daisy were back to normal. The dead Sullia on the ground at their feet, while the living one standing nearby. There was a small Siltavion travel pod sitting nearby. She turned to run only to be intercepted by May.

“Going somewhere?” May said as she punched her, knocking her down.

 

 

Scott crushed the small cube with his hands, causing the pinpricks of light to return. Two of them landed nearby. Their forms expanded and grew reveling two young women, one who looked exactly like Daisy, the other exactly like Jemma.

“SKYE! JAS!” Daisy screamed, running over to the doppelganger from a parallel Earth that she’d adopted as her twin sister.

“Skye… Skye, can you hear me?”

“Owwww….” Her sister moaned “WHY DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING?”

Skye reached for Jas “you ok babe?”

Her wife simply groaned back.

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

 

Scott walked over to Sulla, his sword drawn.

“I’m giving you once chance, you little witch.” Scott told her as she struggled back to her feet “GO! Leave! Get the fuck out of my sight, out of my city and **_OFF MY PLANET!_** Because if I EVER see you again, I WILL kill you and you won’t even know what hit you.”

“Why?” she sobbed “Why won’t you do your duty!?!”

“My duty? My ‘duty’ is to my wife. To my family. To S.H.I.E.L.D. To the people of this planet.” He said, looking in turn at Daisy, Skye and Jas, his friends and back at Sullia “I might be part Siltavion by blood, but, where it matters, I’m all human. Now get the fuck out of here!”

“Hold on a second” Daisy said, stepping forward.

“Look… I…” Sullia started to say before Daisy slapped her across the face.

“Think you can string me along like your little toy? Guess again.”

Sullia staggered away and climbed into the small shuttle, flying off.

 

“I have not missed this part of the job one bit.” Fitz said

“Well, it was nice having you back for it.” Scott said as he put his arms around Daisy as gave her a kiss.

“You think she’s going to listen?” Jemma asked as the ship disappeared into the distance.

“Hey, I can be very persuading” Scott said, playing with his sword again.

“I get the feeling she’ll be back.” Coulson said from behind them. “They always come back…”

At that, Jemma screamed, Fitz cursed, May and Daisy gasped, and Scott dropped his sword. They all turned and looked at him.

“Yeah,” He said, looking at the others “I don’t get it ether.”


	12. Chapter 12

“Phil?” May asked

“Coulson?” Daisy followed “Is that really you?”

“It’s me…” The man said “Though if the world is going back to normal, I don’t know how long this is gonna hold before I’m gone again.”

Daisy started to cry, embracing him. “There’s so much I want to tell you. About Scott and Skye and Toni. God, I’m a _MOM_ for crying out loud.”

“You had a baby?” Coulson asked, lighting up.

“Yeah,” She said between sobs “Scott and I got married and we have a little girl. She’s three months old. I wish you could have been there.”

Scott picked up his sword, put it back in the sheath he was wearing on his back and came closer.

“Well, Agent Riley…” Coulson said to the younger man “I guess that date worked out even without me. I see you’re taking good care of her.”

“Thank you, sir. I try my best. She means the world to me.” Scott said, with both a bit of a chuckle and a perplexed, almost scared look on his face.

“Something the matter, Scott?” Coulson asked him.

“This is going to sound strange but… you shouldn’t be here. At all.” Scott said. His voice was calm but his face told the truth, he was freaking out.

“We know that” Daisy cried, hugging Coulson harder. “I miss you so much…” May and Jemma had both started crying a little, both coming over and embracing Coulson.

“No. No, listen. You guys, think about it.” Scott said “Coulson… ya died. You DIED. It hasn’t just been a few days this time. It’s been years. And yet, here you are. You shouldn’t be here, at all. Period, end of story.”

“Why not?” Coulson asked.

“Because no one else who died before Sullia changed reality the first time came back. Just you.”

“My God, he’s right.” Fitz said

“Thank you. Think about it. Where was Trip? Where was the other Fitz? Where’s Ward? Where’s Talbot? Where’s Mace? Where’s the original Lincoln? Why was it just Coulson? And on top of that, everything has already reverted from the first and second changes. And yet you’re still standing there.”

“So what are you saying?”

“I don’t think her changing history is what brought you back.”

“Which means?”

“It’s only a gut feeling, but I think you might not be going anywhere any time soon…”


	13. Chapter 13

“Coulson’s wound is still there, but the tissue is no longer necrotic.” Jemma said to the others in the now restored _Zephyr One_ ’s med bay “Even the scar tissue is as alive and functional as normal tissue. It’s weird.”

“Simmons? Why are there two of you?” Coulson asked “And why is one dressed like Avril Levine?

“Eh, It’s a long story.” Jas said, taking the pressure cuff off Coulson.

“How long a story?’

“Just about two years, actually.” Daisy said.

Coulson just looked around the room. “So this is the future… No Kree running around, right?”

“Unless you somehow count Danvers, no.” Scott told him “Welcome to 2020”

Daisy’s phone beeped and she excused herself.

 “Carol came back?” Coulson asked “Wow, I have missed a lot. Last thing I remember was Enoch walking in and trying to warn me about something.”

“We took care of that.” Fitz said.

“Good to see you didn’t get freezer burn.” Coulson said to him “So, what else have I missed?”

“Well, where do we start?” May said.

“How about here.” Daisy said, reentered the room carrying Toni and followed by Skye holding her children’s hands. Skye and Jas had run off in a panic to find their twins once they were restored and missed most of the reunion with Coulson.

“Oh my God…” Coulson said

“Philip J. Coulson, I’d like you to meet Antoinette Melinda Johnson-Riley.” Daisy said, handing him her daughter to hold “We call her Toni for short.”

“No… well, yeah, she’s adorable and all that but… um…. Daisy? There’s two of you standing here. Why?”

“Oh… right, you haven’t actually met me yet. Hi, I’m Skye. Nice to finally me you.” The other girl introduced herself.

“Skye? Are we dealing with time travel again?”

“Interdimensional travel actually” Skye told him “I’m not from this earth originally.”

”Look, I have all the reports saved on my computer” Scott said “We can go over the details later, but suffice to say, the team… the family… has gotten quite a bit bigger since you’ve been gone.”

May smiled and took his hand “But we’re I don’t think there are words to describe how happy we are to have you back as a part of it.”

 

“Hello you…” Coulson said to Toni. “Who’s this lady?” He playfully asked, pointing to May.

“Tell him ‘That’s my Grandma Melinda.” May said, sitting next to him.

“What?” Coulson said flatly.

“Daisy asked me to adopt her.” May said “So that if anything happens to her and Scott, there’s as many people as possible in place to take care of Toni. And I said yes.

“Hi Grandma!” little Scotty said, wandering over.

She picked the little boy up and sat her on her lap.

"Scotty," she said "This is grandma's friend, Mr. Coulson. Say hi."

"Hi." The toddler yelled

"Cute... Where'd he come from?" Coulson asked

"He's our's" Skye said, holding Jas' hand "... wait, where's Sprout?"

the two ran out to look for their daughter

 “I’ve also adopted Skye” she explained "as far as the world is concerned, they're identical twins."

“Got any other surprises for me?”

“She might not, but I do.” A voice said. “hello Phil…”

“Nick…”

“Actually it’s ‘Director Fury’ again…”

“You don’t look any worse for the wear…”

“You should talk.” The older man said as he came closer.

“Hello there, little lady.” He said, wiggling his finger at baby Toni. “Agent Johnson, If it’s all right with you…”

“Oh… right…” Daisy said, coming over and taking Toni back. “Mommy’s gonna get you something to eat.”

Another man followed into the room.

“Phil Coulson, I’d like you to meet the new Secretary of Defense, John Sherman.”

“Mr. Coulson, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you. Shame it’s under these circumstances.”

“What’s going on Nick?”

Fury sighed “We were absorbed into the Defense Department a few months ago…”

“Speaking of which, what are these two doing here?” Sherman asked, looking at Fitz and Simmons.

“Dr. Simmons is best suited for caring for Coulson, given what they all been through, we have to debrief them as well.”

Sherman sneered at the two before leaving the room.

“Trouble in paradise?” Coulson asked “What happened with FitzSimmons?”

“Sherman fired them, under the directive that they are foreign nationals and as such, can’t be members of a defense intelligence agency.”

Fury pulled over a stool and sat down.

“I’m sorry to have to be the one to tell you this.”

“What happened?”


	14. Chapter 14

“Shield was granted full legitimacy not long after you died.” Fury explained “We operated as we always did at first, but Sherman there, he’s basically Talbot with an even bigger stick up his ass and the authority to go with it. He threw a high holy fit, demanded we be placed under his authority or else he’d shut us down. And unfortunately, he had enough ears in congress to get them to go along with it.”

“What did Elis say about that?”

“Sherman had enough votes for a veto override, so the president acquiesced, but under protest, and on the condition that we retain some autonomy. But he wouldn’t let me keep anyone without US citizenship.”

“How could he…”

“It’s a different world these days Phil. If you thought things were tense after New York or Sokovia, you an’t seen nothing. Anyone who knows about the snap…”

“What snap..?”

 

Scott found his wife and child in the containment pod, the only place on the jet with real soundproofing. Daisy was in the middle of giving Toni a bottle. Sprout was sitting there, watching

“Hey you two…” He said as he stepped in.

"hey, Skye, I found her."

"oh thank God" Skye said as she ran over and scooped the little girl up "You gave Mommy and Mummy a scare." 

“Scott…” Daisy said after her sister had left

“You don’t need to say anything. I forgave you, remember. Now I need you to forgive me.”

“Forgive you? But… I cheated on you. I did exactly what you were afraid of…”

“No, you didn’t.” He said, putting his hands on her shoulders as he sat next to her.

“I’ve slept with like, six or seven different women.” She said quietly, “I think that qualifies as being unfaithful.”

“No, you weren’t.”

“What are you...?” She began before taking a breath “Scott, what’s going on?”

“They were all Sullia.”

“What?” she said flatly.

“All those women were all Sullia, trying to use you to get to me.”

“but I... You knew? You let me go through with it?”

“Finish with her and then I’ll explain everything.”

Daisy quietly finished feeding Toni, burped her, and then sat her down in her carrier.

“So…”

“Do you trust me?” Scott asked as he tapped his watch

She nodded as his hand began to glow blue.

He placed it on her chest and pulled away, revealing a small cluster of cells.

“No way…” She said as he crushed them.

“Sullia is an engineered being.” He said while turning his inhibitor back on “Created mostly from the DNA of Mysiri, but with traces of the alternate Hive.”

“So she was controlling me?”

“In a manner of speaking.”

“Oh God, what have I done…” She began to cry

“Hey… hey…” He said, putting his hand back on her shoulder “look at me. You did nothing. They insisted on using you as bait and I didn’t stop them. That’s what I need you to forgive me for.”

“Bait?”

“Fury and the others knew what was going on from the start. They only told me once they had proof, and why we went to confront the two of you in the park with everyone on alert…”

“So Abbie… and Chloe and Jennifer and…”

“All Sullia.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.”

“They’re like Ivanov, only if his LMD bodies were organic. Only she can’t make more. Best we can tell, that was her last one.”

Daisy sat quietly for a few moments, watching her little girl nap on the other side of the pod. She’d been sure if he ever found out he’d have lost it.

“Well, today had one upside” She said, taking his hand. “I got to see the ‘Iron Rider’ in action again.”

Scott made a huff. He hated that everyone called his gear that.

“You know they’re never going to let you call yourself a ‘Kamen Rider”

“Spoilsport.” He said with a laugh while exiting the pod.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I intentionally left a few things for people to figure out on their own...
> 
> But in the name of fairness, here's the extra details.
> 
> In the modified timeline, the Hydra backed team that originally took Daisy succeeded, so she ended up in their custody, adopted by one of their members and went to that evil prep school from the back half of season 5. When it came time for her final exam, she ran, and had been running ever since. She wasn't exactly a con artist, just hiding.
> 
>  
> 
> However the whole deal with the mist had caused her to become a stressed out mess.
> 
>  
> 
> In the normal timeline, As shown is the previous story, Mysiri and Hive were launched back in time. they began creating clones to do their revenge scheme, eventually placing Sulla into a long term suspending animation in a safe place. She began by using her traits inherited from Hive to try to drive Scott and Daisy apart by seducing her, but Mack, May and Skye clued something was very wrong, brought in the others and kept Scott in the dark while they came up with a solution. 
> 
>  
> 
> Once they had everything they needed, the told him and went to confront one of Sullia's bodies in the park with Daisy. Sullia triggered the Cosmic Cube her body had as a backup plan, rewriting reality so Scott wasn't around to stop her.
> 
>  
> 
> As for Coulson, well, let's just say I have plans...


	15. Chapter 15

“So what was with the riddles?” Coulson asked as he wandered onto the flight deck.

“You get the ok to get up?” Scott said from the co-pilot’s seat.

“Yeah, punk rock American Jemma, what did you say you called her?”

“Jas” May said, turning to look at him.

“Yeah, she said I was clear to move around. So… The keys and truths and whatever else Daisy or Cory or whatever dreamed?”

“I could only manifest myself so much, it took energy. That whole bit at the foot of the bridge was draining me dry.” Scott explained “I tried to implant information in her subconscious. The rest was her mind’s interpretation.”

“Great… ok… you mind filling the rest of us in?”

“OK… first off, late arrival spoilers… I’m part alien. My grandmothers race had legends of devices called ‘Reality engines.’ And apparently Sullia found one or two or possibly more. They can bend the world to whatever the holder wishes, but they have a cost. The devices are aware and they don’t always do it exactly as the user asks. My wedding ring was sort of an anchor.”

“That sounds almost like magic…”

“Well, when it contains materials that shouldn’t exist… A chunk of Siltavion starship. Gold from a parallel reality… The cube couldn’t figure out what to do with it.”

“Interesting…” Coulson said “So, where’d you get the suit?”

“Ah… Now that… That is an interesting story.”

“One of your long ones?”

“Maybe…”

 

About an hour later, the jet landed in the under-reconstruction Triskelion. The ramp opened, and Coulson walked down to thunderous applause, though a few people tried to pull on his face to ensure it was him.

Daisy and Scott spent a few more hours with him before Fury ordered a Qunjet to take them home.

 

Scott and Daisy entered their apartment and put Toni in her crib. The two then climbed out onto the fire escape.

“God, it’s only been, like 18 hours, but it feels like an eternity.” Daisy said as Scott reached around her from behind, joining his hands around her abdomen and resting his chin on the top of her head.

“Feels like a lifetime.” He replied “or more.”

“Thank you for not forgetting me.” She said as she turned around in his arms.

“Thank you for reminding me who I am.” He said, kissing her.

“Thank you for forgiving me.”

“Daisy, I love you. I can’t be mad at you…”

“I can’t believe he’s back” She said, turning around again and looking out at the street below.

“Neither can I, though I think I’m more on the scared side of things.” Scott said. “Until we know why or how he was brought back, we’re going to be looking over our shoulders.”

“Why? You don’t think he’s a threat, do you?”

“No, but what if his presence here is to stop another Thanos level attack?”

“Well, if that happens, we’ll just do what we always do.” She said with a smile “Kick some ass.”

“You’re right.” He said.

“You’re right…?” She continued

“ugh… you’re right _Princess_ ”

“Thank you.”

“You’re not going to let that one go, are you?”

“Nope.” She said “Maybe… eventually. When I’m Queen…”

She turned back to him and laughed “I’m kidding…”

At that moment, Toni began to cry in her crib.

“Speaking of princesses…” Scott said “I’ll get her.”

“Hey” She said grabbing his hand. “It’s only because I got to live every little girls dream. I married a real-life handsome prince. My own knight in shining armor…”

Scott smiled.

“I love you” She said “Never forget that.”

 

 

 

Coulson lay asleep in bed, the room quiet. He suddenly opened his eyes, sat up, and walked over to the computer on the nearby desk.

He ran through file after file, never blinking, never moving, just reading…

 

 

Next Time

**Agents of SHIELD**

**RISE OF THE IRON RIDER Vol 1: PANDORA’s WAR**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I said to someone in a comment to Vol 2 of Operation exiles, I had a hero identy set for Scott. I had actually already begun planning this story at that point.
> 
> Scott's "Iron Rider/Kamen Rider Victory" system is a combination of scraped parts of Iron Man armors coupled with some Pym tech (what makes the compoents grow and shrink) and a few other bits of tech that will be explained in the next story.

**Author's Note:**

> This is probably the story I’m most excited to tell, since it’s actually an adaption of an original idea I’d had a few years ago. If there’s one thing I like, is when movies, TV shows and books mess with you, your perceptions and expectations and the “The Black Mist” idea was one of my tribute to that concept.
> 
> What I really like is when something almost completely switches stories or even genres midway through. Take the movie “Frequency”, staring Jim Caviezel and Denis Quaid. Caviezel is an NPYD detective in 1999 who suddenly finds his dad’s old ham radio can communicate with itself 30 years prior, allowing him to talk to his dead firefighter father the day before he died. This starts off as a touching reconnection between father and son… until the dad uses his son’s future knowledge to save his own life, causing the timeline to unravel and ‘ret gone’ several people, including the mother, turning the movie from, as TV tropes describes it, an “emotional drama” into a “set right what once went wrong mystery thriller”. 
> 
> The plot of the original concept is vaguely similar to the finished product, but I’m more than happy to go over it with you.  
> The character whose role Cory/Daisy takes over was supposed to be a washed-up former singer who was stuck in a dead-end job as a barista. We’ll call her A (…I never got around to giving any of the characters finalized names…). A had had a shot a big time recording contract, but there was an accident at a concert she was opening at and people died (family crushed under a falling lighting rig). Emotionally ruined, she got a job at a coffee shop, where she meets two other young ladies, let’s call them B and C. B was removed from the SHIELD version for two reasons. First, the SHIELD agents filled much the same role (someone A should be familiar with) and second, she was supposed to be the sister of the “hero character”, but I’d already mentally established Scott was an only child when I started lying the groundwork for this. C is the Sally/Sullia analog.
> 
> The mist starts chasing them, A and B eventually realize something is wrong, C ties them up and is about the kill them when the mist attacks her to defend the two, turns into his hero identity (still a Kamen Rider like character, I REALLY like that show) and proceeds to beat the crap out of the bad guys C was working with. (we’re just gonna call him D)  
> When he stops to untie A and B, their memories would return after he takes off his helmet.  
> A’s real life was of a successful pop singer, married to D with a child. She’d accidently spilled hot coffee on D’s lap, and invited him and B backstage at the show as an apology. D had used his abilities to stop the accident, saving the family, but forcing himself to reveal his superhero identity to A. She not only accepted him, but became a crime fighter herself.  
> There was another bit where A, along with the ‘in agony’ vision saw herself saying this would be her last show, not knowing that was only a snippet, and it was her announcing her sabbatical from performing to have their child.  
> C was a member of D’s rouge’s gallery, but I had never really worked out the charactization.
> 
> I was hemming and hoeing on the later chapters of the story before I decided to write it down.  
> Both the original concept and the SHILED version ended with D/Scott being restored to normal and driving off C/Sally. I had planed to leave off the next section.
> 
> I was still thinking up the original concept when I heard Taylor Swift’s “Wildest Dreams” on the radio at my job for the first time and the song’s refrain stuck with me, inspiring the second section.  
> As in the finished work A/Daisy gets between D/Scott and a second shot from the reality changer (which itself changed designs four or five times before settling on actual Cosmic Cubes), causing herself to be erased, vanishing in her husband’s arms, asking him to remember her.  
> D, much like Scott eventually, did remember, only instead his powers in this new reality manifested in a much more feral and angry state that A had to stop from going on a rampage.
> 
> The last section, Coulson’s return, was, much like drafting Enoch to fill the role in “Operation Exiles”, me trying to work around Coulson’s presence in the stories after this one without massive re-writes to be able to follow on from season 5.


End file.
